Do Bloggers Really Deserve to Be Paid?
There are bloggers who are paid well for their time, while others get little or nothing at all. You probably have a strong opinion on the subject, no matter which camp you fall into. But I don’t think it’s as black and white as paid vs. not paid, and it’s time we stop treating it like it is.
Countless articles from bloggers list the many reasons and situations where they feel they should—and should not—expect to receive compensation for their time. And mom bloggers read these articles, nod their heads, and resolve to start demanding more. There’s something empowering about the whole thing, really. Unfortunately, there’s also something a bit misleading. The fact is that we don’t deserve to get paid just by virtue of being a mom who blogs. We deserve to get paid because we’re providing a value to the company. However, that value won’t be the same across the board. The authors of these well-read articles aren’t bragging, but they are talented, experienced writers with influence in their fields of expertise. They didn’t start at that point; they worked hard to get there.
Before sitting down to calculate the worth of your time, there are a few factors to consider. Each of these contributes to the value you provide to a company, and will impact what you should receive in return for compensation. None of these factors can be considered alone, so it’s important to take a balanced look at what you have to offer.
Service
In order for a company to find value in you, first you must provide a service that is useful to them. Simply re-posting their press release isn’t going to cut it. Attending a social event is not a service to the company either. That’s meant to be a perk for you. Writing a review is actually a service to your readers (remember them?), especially if it is balanced and honest.
Services that do provide value typically require thought and work. They might include writing how-to pieces on using the product, helping to coordinate a blogger event, providing in-depth feedback on a product or placing advertising on your site that will remain in place for a period of time.
Influence
Influence is one of those nebulous words thrown around that can be extremely difficult to measure. If you have 10,000 Twitter followers, are they reading what you’re writing or are they all brand representatives tweeting out their own messages? Be careful that you don’t over-inflate your influence in your own mind.
It may feel influential to have 10,000 page views a month on your blog, but when you consider that there are sites that are seeing 50K, 100K, and some more than a million, it keeps things in perspective. Influence also comes in the form of offline interactions. If you’re someone who is heavily involved in a community organization or who has a job that reaches large numbers of people, you might be able to leverage that as well.
Talent
The simple fact is that we can’t all be good at everything. While I believe that all bloggers who write are writers, it’s not necessarily true that they are good writers. Some bloggers are better at getting a message across than others. Some tell a more compelling story. Some members of our community shine in podcasts and vlogs. Companies who are looking to send a specific message will find value in bloggers who have talent in these areas. Just like they hire based on skills and experiences in the workplace, many will seek out and compensate those who have specific skills and experience in the blogosphere.
Much like influence and reputation, you do have some control in this area. Make it a point to develop skills at the same time you’re cultivating readership. This will also allow you to offer more services to the brands you work with.
Reputation and Relationships
These are going to be two of your most valuable assets over the long haul, so you want to safeguard them. More and more, we’re going to see brands seeking out bloggers who have a reputation for providing quality results. That’s something you can build over time and will be heavily influenced by the relationships you cultivate. And, just as we see family-friendly brands avoiding the basketball player with a history of domestic abuse, you can expect that your blog and persona will come under scrutiny for engaging in cyberbullying, brand bashing and other negative behaviors.
Your reputation is part of the value you provide a company. It’s the comfort of knowing that you’ll be easy to work with, follow through and won’t harm their brand through reckless and inappropriate behavior. Relationships are the key to meeting these brands and getting your foot in the door.
I strongly believe that bloggers deserve to be paid for the work they do with brands. But I also believe that we need to look critically at the value we are providing in relation to the fees we expect. You wouldn’t necessarily ask for an exorbitant salary for your first job, and you might even accept an unpaid internship to get your foot in the door. Blogging is no different.
You should never sell yourself short, but you may have to work your way up in the ranks. And don’t forget that having just one or two of these value areas isn’t sufficient. You’ll need the whole package to become the superstar blogger you’re meant to be.
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It’s not surprising that as this relatively new marketing era unfolds, there will be people on both sides of the fence.
I personally wouldn’t follow someone who sings for their supper, but I guess there are other people who do.
I think you have provided a well-rounded perspective for business women on both sides of the fence. Thanks for bringing strong points for both PR firms and Mom Bloggers to consider before negotiating.
I’m a blogger, but I see this issue from the perspective of the company or PR firm because I have worked in PR/marketing for over 10 years for some major brands (including several Fortune 100 and 500 clients).
I DO pay bloggers to work on campaigns, but I hire these bloggers based on a combination of their influence/reach and their professional credentials. Many bloggers are experienced copywriters, graphic designers and marketers. They have impressive resumes and references which I can show my clients. I have no problem getting funding from my clients to pay these women a fair market rate for their work as consultants because they are professionals. My clients view them as professionals who also happen to be mommybloggers rather than as mommybloggers.
However, many bloggers asking for pay for their work or pitching themselves as consultants are NOT professionals. For example, look at the scandal with MommyNetworks.org (http://dearcrissy.com/toyota-pays-mom-bloggers-10-to-bury-bad-press/) and the apology (http://mommynetworks.org/). Clearly, the founder of MommyNetworks thought she could charge for her social media and PR services. However, her email is full of typos, and she created a major problem for a brand.
If bloggers want to be taken seriously, we need to treat our blogs like a business and respect the rules of business. In a business, you do not walk in the door and expect to be named a VP or Senior Manager. You train. You pay your dues. You work your way up the ladder. Top bloggers can command pay from brands because they are worth it. They manage their blogs like professionals, and they can show media kits, testimonials, references, etc.
There are MANY bloggers who think (like MommyNetworks) that they have the same capabilities as these top bloggers, and they pitch themselves for work using rates they’ve seen in the monetization presentation given at BlissDom or that they’ve read about online in magazines such as MomBlogMagazine. However, no brand or agency will pay them these rates because they lack the experience and the references.The women who are earning these fees have the experience, the references and the professional attitude towards work that companies want.
Unless your pre-blogger career was in marketing/PR/writing, it is critical to build the experience and references first before demanding high pay just because you are a blogger.
I also want to address the question of paid reviews. I would not hire bloggers to write paid reviews. My clients are not interested in paid reviews. An objective review is unpaid. Clients are looking for earned media, and I also think your readers are smart enough to ignore anything said in a paid review. You cannot “buy” an honest opinion. There, clients will pay for ads or for consulting, but they will not pay for reviews.
Regarding advertising on blogs, I don’t want to sound mean but I believe many bloggers overestimate their influence and the value of a banner ad on their site. If you track the click-thru rate for a banner ad, it is generally very low. You could have 50,000 UVs a month on your blog yet generate less than 500 clicks on a banner ad. You can post a review on your site yet generate less than 100 clicks to a client website. CPM rates vary wildly in advertising between sites. Some top bloggers can justify high CPMs because of their loyal following, but many brands set goals for CPMs based on the expected CPC. The expected CPC shouldn’t be more than it would cost to buy a targeted ad on Google or Facebook.
So a regular-influence mom blogger site banner ad may only be worth a $2 CPM to a brand. Why is that? While networks such as Glam and Lifetime may sell CPM ads at $10-20 for blogs, these networks handle all the details of the ad buys with the individual bloggers. Even still, they often have remnant inventory available at $0.50-$2CPM. So why would I buy an ad direct with a blogger when I have to fill out all of the accounting paperwork, manually send the ad, etc? I would only buy an ad with an individual blogger if that blogger were of the highest quality and influence.
Thank you so much for starting this conversation! It’s really valuable to get the blogging community talking about this!
Debbie, I love that you shared this! Thank you so much. No blogger can expect an overnight mega blog without working their way up. Honestly, for me…I’d rather be a blogger who grows at a steady pace because of my content than to generate a mass hit count and subscription increase due to giveaways. Also, as a company who is looking to invest in bloggers, I wouldn’t put my investment in that either. How unfortunate about mommynetworks.org. I read Crissy’s investigative report. I’m speechless.
Debbie,
You have given me some excellent insights about being a professional “mommy blogger” and I greatly appreciate that. I am currently working to build my resume, as I am new in the business venue in the area of PR/marketing/writer. These are great things for me to keep in mind.
Granted, I didn’t expect that I should be paid oodles of money at this stage. But, I will admit, I get impatient at times because I have seen some bloggers climb up the ladder so quickly and I feel as if I’m crawling. I want to pinpoint the issues and resolve them so I can continue to move forward. My number one goal is building community. Not for the sake of monetary gain, but for the sake of community. I love being surrounded by encouraging, inspiring women.
Anyways, thanks again! And thank you Christy for this excellent article. :)
I think there are a lot of good points made here for both sides of this argument. I think that blogging has become a popular go-to mechanism for moms who want to stay at home but need to earn an extra income. That being said, I think that the majority of moms go into blogging hoping to make money from it, but how many are successful? Here is a thought-provoking page I recently came across that really made me stop and think about the idea of moms earning money from blogging…http://blogorbuild.sitesell.com/
I read Christy’s article but I didn’t read all the responses. The reason is I am one of those hardcore people who expects to be paid when I provide services. If I am not providing anyone with anything of worth, then I have to figure that they are providing me with services. That’s just the nature of the beast.
And, so you know that I practice what I preach, at Type A Mom last night year, I cornered one of the speakers and asked her to brain storm for me for a bit on the exact topic that she had spoken about earlier. After a bit, some folks came by and asked her to go eat with them, she decided to go but I made a point to get her enough cash in her hands to buy herself dinner and probably that of one of the people who invited her.
This person wasn’t going to take my money and I wasn’t going to let her leave without taking it. Later I made a statement in the Town Hall meeting to a really big blogger who mentioned spending a lot of time helping folks who just emailed her out of the blue seeking advice. I suggested that if, not necessarily when, but if she decided to spend time giving advice to people that should simply attach an invoice for her time with her response.
I have learned a lot from people who have given advice to me freely and it was a good thing because I didn’t have the money to pay them for their advice. However, once I learned enough to make money doing what I do, I expected to be paid. That said, if I go to a conference and sit in a session, I feel like I have the right to stand up and ask a question without having someone ask me to pay them, I paid for the conference right? But, if I corner them in the lobby and beg? I do what’s right.
Does that mean I don’t help anyone without expecting to be paid? Nope not at all, people who are just getting started deserve some leeway, not entitlement, but just some common courtesy. But those folks also have to know that once they are making money using the tactics, it’s time to pay when you go in search of some more advanced advice.
I’m talking in circles now but the bottom line is this, it’s an individual decision as to whether they do this “gig” as a job or a hobby. And that’s where the line is basically drawn….right where you decide to place it for you personally.
And with that, I’m not taking the time to proofread that because I’m just lazy like that.
I recently posted on my blog about the same thing. A lot of bloggers seem to think that contacting a company once and trying to get free product out of them is good enough. I truly love when a company wants to work with me a 2nd time! It means I did something right the first time. I have never felt I am that great of a writer, and quite frankly am surprised when others read my blog LOL, so it is always an honour when a company rep tells me they love what I wrote about their company. Or they contact me out of the blue and say they love my blog and can actually quote something from it ;)
I would love to be making more off of my blog, but I know I am working my way up, and the more I put into it the more I have gotten out of it!
I love what you wrote and think this is a great perspective!
Christy, thank you for this well articulated post. You’re are so correct! “Reputation and Relationships” are going to be our most valuable assets over the long haul.
I wouldn’t really look at it as a matter of “deserving” to be paid. It has more to do with the fact that so many people are blogging now- companies would be foolish to not take the opportunity to spend a fraction of what they do on national media campaigns & buy a little ad space on a few hundred blogs. The ability to get the word out about your company or a special offer you are promoting is huge & at a massive cost savings to the marketing budget. Not to mention helping out us bloggers that would love to make a little something for our time we spend doing it. It really is a win-win for everyone involved.
I agree with you, Gina. Personally, my company wants to invest in the blogosphere. That’s why we created Pix-O-Sphere to begin with. FOR the blogosphere. As a stay at home CEO mom blogger I understand wanting to build up a blog business. If a mom can stay home and work on the Internet she can have more time with her family than if she had to work outside the home. Many larger companies are seeing the value in blogging and have begun their own blogs as well. Every company is going to negotiate with a blogger individually. I don’t think it’s fair for a company to take advantage of a blogger and I also don’t think it’s fair of a blogger to demand more than her what her influence is worth. I think the problem comes in with not understanding what the value is.
A start up company doesn’t have $1000 a month for a 125×125 button placement. If a blog is worth that, they should be talking to major companies, but not a start up company. A start up company could see great value in buying ad space on several smaller blogs that is affordable for their budget. But they need to know what to look for. The potential in the blogger and the content she/he is providing. Even a new blogger can push out a fantastic blog following in a matter of weeks with good content. I think Jennifer wrote about that once. She started a new blog under another name using her own advice and it worked.
I’ve been a mom blogger for a few years now and a forum leader for nbc’s ivillage.com where I wrote content to keep the hits coming into the forums I was leading. ivillage didn’t pay leaders, they are volunteers yet they do the work because they love it. They love their communities. Do bloggers love their communities or do they love the money they can make off their communities? I’m asking this as a thought provoking question. It should make us all think a bit. The readers will KNOW if you are more interested in making money off them as the audience. As a company that works with bloggers I’d like to share some things that I have noticed in all this money controversy.
Are you a blogger who loves your community?
Do you look out for the readers?
Are you wanting to present brands to the readers because you know it fits your niche and the readers will benefit?
If a company offers a service as their brand and it’s pertinent to the blogosphere, do you offer that info to your readers to be helpful to them? Or is it only introduced to them if you get paid?
Do you want to be known as the place to go to that has the information they need?
There’s a lot that bloggers can provide to their readers without getting paid and they would be wise to do so because a wise blogger is an informative blogger. Readers don’t have to pay to read your blog. You offer your writing to them for free. What are you giving them?
I enjoy the fundamentals of blogging that Jennifer writes about from time to time. Blog, comment, be helpful to your community, introduce readers to services they will benefit from, be helpful to them.
When I look to invest in a blogger I am looking at all these things. I, as a company, want to know that the bloggers I invest in have an audience I want to invest in. I want to know that the bloggers represents their audience well. If they don’t, I don’t have much faith that they will represent my company well either.
Is the blog filled with posts about giveaways, link ups, and advertisement posts? I’m less likely to invest there. Honestly, their hit count doesn’t excite me if their blog is designed for people to link up and run. I want to know they are providing valuable content to their readers. The topic doesn’t matter, as long as it’s something their audience judges as valuable.(although I do aim for family friendly) I watch the blogosphere, the articles, the comment sections. The comment sections tell me a lot about the blogger and the audience. How does the blogger moderate her blog community? Is she helpful, a peacemaker, or does she like to cause problems and drama to get her hit count up?
Honestly, when I see brash money grubbing comments as opposed to smart intellectual PR dialogue, it’s a total turn off for my business. I’m just sharing these things as a company..seeing both sides..as a blogger and now a company, I have learned a lot more.
The minute the blogosphere pumps out some type of cookie cutter minimum wage for blog post advertising the bloggers will have cut off their own hands. Keep it a free market for advertising and compete with content and relationships. But minimize the brash comments about PR firms and companies. It doesn’t invite them to want to invest in you.
Keep up the intellectual dialogue on the matter though. A blogger who provides great content and has a thriving community based on relationships is a huge plus for a company to invest in.
Lots of smart observations here! I’ll definitely need to read this more and take everything in.
WOW! I absolutely LOVED your insights in this comment! THANK YOU!
Thank you, Jennifer and Angela. When a company sees brash comments about PR people..they are less likely to ever do business with that blogger. ;)
Thank you for writing this.
When I first began blogging, I laughed at the thought that people actually get paid to do it. But the longer I’ve been at it, and the more time I put into it, I realize that my voice does have an impact and everyone else is paid for their time and endorsement, so why shouldn’t I be?
Is there value in the content you create as a blogger? Is your blog visually appealing? Do your readers trust you? Do you blog with integrity?
I think these things matter. There are thousands of bloggers who create blogs with the interest of getting paid as the initial and primary focus. I don’t think those bloggers can even begin to provide the content and “realness” that those who blog for other reasons and then realize “oh I can get paid to do this… well ok… maybe I should”.
Is your opinion one that has value to those around you? Are you a resource to someone? Is your language interesting and understandable?
Yes?
Well then I think you deserve to be compenstated for the time you devote to your blogging and that brands should reimburse you for an endorsement.
But be practical and respectful and do ask for more than is appropriate.
What is appropriate? Well that will take time to gauge, but there are plenty of articles on the matter to give you a better idea. But just FYI, from what I have read and been told by other bloggers $50 is a standard per post rate.
A campaign or ambassadorship is of course more.
Nice lead in to your article.
If you are writing on your own to promote a product or service, I’m not sure why a company would pay you if it didn’t specifically hire you to do so.
If on the other hand if you are a writer for hire, then you need to promote yourself as such. If your blog content is valuable, marketers/business owners will have examples of your capabilities and hire you for your writing services.
There is a difference between a blogger writer and a professional writer who is hired to write for customers.
If a Mom blogger wants to get paid for her writing skills, she needs to promote her services as a writer, that will attract paying customers.
You might look into article marketing to create visibility as a writer.
honestly I get solicited often to write about people, products, and various other announcements – but they never outright say “WE WILL PAY YOU”
In fact, they aren’t going to offer to pay you, you have to ask. This is where you have to do some soul searching and determine if you are comfortable asking, is your time/work worth what you are asking for, and is it appropriate to ask?
Yes, this is where I get stuck! I have several PR’s approaching me to blog about their contest, new app, new widget, etc. Even if I find that their product or service is of value to my readers, how do I respond to those who expect free press, when I’ve also been contacted by those who are more than willing to pay?
I know I will remain on their list if I always give them a free post. But, will I stay on their list if I start to request payment? If not, that’s called being taken advantage of. To me, it’s not just about the money. It also has to do with respect.
Well said, well said!! I LOVE this article!!
Well said, well said *!
Great article and you made some very good points. I am tired of getting swamped with emails about “share this with your readers and post it on Facebook and twitter.” Huh? I have a full time job already! I feel like some PR reps think we sit here just waiting for the chance to write about random products/companies/shows/events. You want 30 minutes of my time? Compensate me for it.
and not only your time, the brand you have built as a blogger.
You want me to put my NAME and reputation on the line?
I have to agree here. There is so much discussion about Bloggers and compensation, yet it needs to be addressed how much we are contacted to ‘post this now’, share on your blog, twitter, facebook, youtube….oh, and here’s some high-res images as payment.
I have no problem writing back and asking for compensation. To me, whether you have great influence or not – it is work. And in some way it should be recognized as that.
To my knowledge, there hasn’t been a car invented that fills it’s tank with high-res images….
Great conversation in this post though, I’m enjoying the insightful read!
I don’t know that I can add anything that hasn’t been said, but it strikes me that this is the same problem I see every day with writers, in general. One comment sounded offended that there might be mom bloggers who can’t write. I hate to tell you, but there are a Million of ‘em! ;o) Just because someone wants, and feels they deserve, to get paid for blogging—or writing in any format—doesn’t mean they’re good enough. Look at all the $2 articles floating around. The same type writers are creating blogs and hoping to get paid for writing on them.
There is definitely a line here… if you write something of value, if you have a blog that people are interested in, and if you are interested in it, getting paid is great. For many bloggers, moms included, blogging IS a hobby. That shouldn’t make it a bad thing. We just need to know what our intentions are for our blogs before we write.
I disagree.
When I began blogging, I never dreamed that someone would pay me to do it.
Since I’ve been doing it a while, and now write for another “big” blog (MyRealityTech.com), and have been approached to write for others, I see that it is a possibility to generate an income from this.
For me blogging came first, as a hobby, as a therapy, and the potential to supplement my income was secondary.
I’m not sure why this is even an article. It doesn’t make sense to argue over something as simple as business. Bloggers who don’t have that traffic should already know they probably have a snowballs chance to even have their pitch considered.
The point is to build that umbrella of influence and trust with the masses first before monetizing. People get so focused on the money and what happens- months later, they dwindle in posting down to nothing. Its sad, but true.
My thoughts: whether a blogger or a columist – you’re doing basically the same job. So, why should one get paid and not the other.
Whether you’re a big time blogger or a small “fish in the sea”, I believe every blogger deserves to be paid for their time and effort to get a company’s name out there. No one should work for free. If that’s expected of a blogger, I compare that to people who work at sweatshops, whom are being paid minimum wage or nothing at all. A bit drastic to compare it to something like that, but it is the truth. More bloggers should be taken more seriously. If you can’t fathom that thought. Think of a billboard. In order to advertise on that billboard, one must pay the price to get on that billboard if they want to get their name out there.
People aren’t influenced by magazines and/or television such much anymore. They’re mostly influenced by what they read ONLINE. :)
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I just blog because I enjoy sharing what I created and l love to read other peoples blog for inspiration. There are some mom bloggers who truely are talented at what they do and really can convey there point of view brilliantly. It makes us come back to read more. I do not see a reason why they should not get paid for doing what they love.
Wow, after reading this post and the ensuing commentary I have formulated a few thoughts of my own that I wanted to share regarding this seemingly contentious topic. I have read many blogs including many mom blogs and I think all of them are truly insightful in their own way. I believe every blogger has something to contribute and just because a particular blogger is not a professional or seasoned writer does not mean that they wield any less potential influence than a so called self described literary genius.
Further, the web is a big enough place for many to grow and excel both as writers and hobbyist alike. Additionally, bloggers should unequivocally be compensated for their efforts when working or partnering with a company. Just like the company expects to be paid when they sell something or provide a service to you, you should likewise expect to be compensated when you provide a service for them.
Furthermore, the life blood of every business is advertising and without it the business will typically lose sales and fail. Why do you think companies spend millions of dollars to advertise during the Super Bowl. Consequently, whenever you write about, review or endorse a product or a service for a company on your blog you are providing the company an advertising and promotional service and you should be compensated for that.
Additionally, a little FYI dirty little secret that PR firms and companies don’t want you to realize is that when you post something on the Internet it tends to stay out there on the web for a very long time. Conversely, when these companies pay for a newspaper ad, a magazine ad, a commercial spot it is generally a one and done proposition. For example, and ad in the newspaper is here today and in the trash tomorrow. So much for the shelf life of that ad buy.
In conclusion, don’t sell yourself short as a blogger and don’t let PR firms and company reps take advantage of you. Granted you will not be able to call all the shots, but you should be able to work synergistically with PR and company reps and eloquently propose that if they want the exposure whether 100 pageviews a month or 10,000 a month there is still value being provided.
So, to all you bloggers keep up the good work and don’t sell yourself short. Your worth it and at the end of the day support the efforts of your fellow bloggers. In closing, I wish all of you the mental fortitude to pursue all of your endeavours to the fullest and find peace in being a kind and friendly person. Trust me the nicer you are to others the nicer you will be to yourself.
Well your points were so well stated and your writing so enjoyable, now I gotta go read your blog!
The internet is a thief of time!
you don’t have one? or at least your name is not linked!
You have to share with us where I may read more from you!
Thanks Tracey! I appreciated your comments on this post.
Yes, Thanks Tracey.
Very well said!
Christy,
Your post reiterates some very important points. Certainly neither mommy bloggers nor brands should feel that the other owes them something for nothing.
I think it is totally reasonable for brands to expect and get value — AKA ROI (return on investment) for what they are paying for. Likewise I also believe that mom bloggers who are providing their time and expertise to a brand should be compensated appropriately based on what skills/experience they bring to the table and also in consideration of what the brand’s task(s) involve.
In the end both brands and mommy bloggers shouldn’t forget that they always have the power to choose whether to say YES or NO in any particular situation.
Who decides who “deserves” to be paid? Sure, you can make some elitist distinction between bloggers and “real” or professional writers, but in this day and age the line is extremely blurry. Do gossip columnists and reporters for tabloid newspapers deserve to be paid? In a society where professional athletes can earn millions per year, why not bloggers? The marketplace answers these questions, not personal opinions.
Bloggers and brands jointly decide who deserves to be paid. However, it’s important for new bloggers to understand what brands are generally willing to pay FOR so they have realistic expectations and the confidence/tools to make decisions about what they really deserve.
The real question is “How in the Heck can you stop them from getting paid?” As long as there are affiliate websites and Google Adsense they’ll always be able to monetize no matter where there content is.
What a great article! I agree its about your reputation, influence and what you can bring to the table but never lose sight of why you started and what direction you are headed.
Bloggers of magazines and really big sites deserve to be paid for content, but many of them are paid by the magazine not the PR company, I think that’s part of the difference between bloggers. If you’re creating content then yes you deserve to be paid, but that’s if someone cares about what your writing. Otherwise not so much.
The trick with getting paid as a blogger is to write top quality content. I do even though I’ve yet to ever be identified as a mom. I’m not even expecting. Not even female for that matter. You can’t just throw up sappy uninteresting content and expect someone to pay you. My admonition to all would be writers is to focus on quality. There’s enough drab content circulating the interwebs- no need for more. Be creative!
I posted this on my facebook page. It was really interesting to me and made me really think. I do feel that a few of the comments were a bit snobish in their feelings about mom bloggers vs professional writers.
I have blogged for years since yahoo offered 360. When that shut down I lost my readers and have had a hard time getting readership back up. I never once thought of being paid for my blogs. I write about my life, kids, friends, cooking, entertainment, coupons, etc. When I have found a product that I love I blog about it. I always post links to their websites and give any information I can about it. I post my honest opinion.
My friendss, both personal and online always come to me when they have questions about a new product. They ask if I have tried it yet and what I know about it. I have fun blogging about the stuff I know about. It is nice having people ask my opinion about a product.
I do love when I get an item to review and it helps to make me feel valued for my opinion. Am I getting paid for this service? No I am given a product to review for the comapny. Would I like to be paid for blogging? Heck yes who wouldn’t love to be paid for doing what they love to do. Do I think I will ever be paid for having this much fun? Nope and if I did it might take away some of the fun of writing for me. I would rather be sent coupons for free products any day of the week!
Daphne a mom and blogger who does it for the fun.
I’m not paid to review products. I’m paid for other things, like doing in-depth product coverage (how-to’s, or creative info over and above opinions about the product use), promoting products and providing other services for companies. It IS fun!
If you want to take your blog to a paid level, you can pursue that. But if you’re happy as is, that’s OK, too!
I thought I might share one thing I’m doing…. I’m writing the way that I love to on my blog…now I’m going after PR/brands/companies to see if they’d be interested to team with me on an idea I have.
Of course, you absolutely do NOT have to pursue being paid if that’s not an issue, but I wanted to share that the “pitching” can go the other way around too! ;)
Like you, I don’t want to compromise who I am & what I’m about. However, if I can find a company that believes in my content & what I’m already doing, it’s a win-win in my book.
Every blogger is different in their style and goals, and that is A-OK. That’s what keeps the blogosphere spicy in my book. ;)
Very well said. How many times have I been contacted and all that was provided regarding the ‘service’ was the number of followers…
Well said.
I love how you outlined what really matters. It’s not just numbers, or experience but real influence, and skills!
So, so true that you have to work your way up the ranks, just like any other job. Only most jobs don’t have people competing with you who work for free! Like most jobs though sometimes the people you are working for don’t really see your value. It’s not just about valuing yourself, and knowing what you’re worth (I know such buzz words!) but also working with someone who understands what you’re worth.
Really interesting article! Could I repost this on my Ning Site: http://aussiemummybloggers.com?
Thanks!
As a PR person and blogger, I was approached by another mom blogger for a campaign and she wanted me to participate in a community, comment on a Facebook page and tweet twice a week for an entire month for $50. I politely declined the offer but I can’t get over is that a mom blogger was pitching it – does she not understand her value? I know this was offered to other bloggers and they accepted it.
As a PR person, I’ve worked with plenty of bloggers and we pay for additional content whether that’s for the brand’s site or for sponsored content on their site.
Wow! I hate reading that. It’s so sad.
Same issue with food blogging but like the first comment…hit the nail on the head. Being a mom and being a blogger or loving to cook and blogging about it does not inherently make it good or interesting or have an intrinsic value. When I first started putting recipes online over 15 years ago it was because I loved to cook and share my experience with others. I sort of hate the focus on CPM and ad networks…gotta tell ya, I really, really still just love to cook and share it with others!
No, I don’t believe they should be paid. 99% of “mommy bloggers” do it as a hobby or to “score free stuff”. They aren’t real writers. It’s a shame that free sites like blogger.com have started this whole phenomenon, flooding the Internet with wannabe professional writers.
I don’t disagree that there are many hobby bloggers, and moms who love to review products, but 99% is off the mark.
While you discount the hobby bloggers many successful bloggers will tell you they started as hobbyists.
So, how would you describe a “real writer”?
I’m not a mom, and I’m new to the whole blogging scene, but when I read comments like the ones from Jenn, I just want to say blog away to all the moms out there. And to Jenn, well…wow…would it be pushing it to say blog off? :>)
In addition to being a blogger, I’m also a professional copywriter. Sometimes the angle I take in pitching myself is that the company is not just getting the advantage of my blog’s audience, but my experience and talent in how to write to promote.
As a blogger, I think I deserve to be paid, yes, but I’m also prepared to explain exactly what kind of value I could provide to a prospective company/brand. Any sensible company is going to want to know “why should I select you over the thousands of other bloggers out there? what makes you think you can represent us better than anyone else?”
I think it’s important to think of everything we bring to the table, not only our blogs.
Great post.
I agree with everything you said. I would also add that bloggers should feel that they have the right to ask for compensation if they feel there is value in they services they are providing. It doesn’t mean that the customer will agree to pay and it doesn’t even mean that the blogger is accurately assessing or pricing her value, but she should feel free to have a price sheet if she wants to. Sometimes women feel shy to ask for money for their home grown work. At least don’t let shyness be the reason you aren’t getting paid.
“The fact is that we don’t deserve to get paid just by virtue of being a mom who blogs. We deserve to get paid because we’re providing a value to the company.” — Nail on the head.
Great insights – and point well taken especially about remembering the readers.
Write for free on Huffington Post and it sells for hundreds of millions. Brilliant on their end. But wow, we should learn something just from that alone.
@duongsheahan
Great insight. In my view, if you approach your work as a blogger professionally and have paid your dues and have a certain pull and recognition brands want to tap into, then you should definitely get paid. I simply can’t afford to take time away from being paid as an editor or social media consultant and do free stuff for a brand. Those companies are making a lot of money, and they are getting their money worth when I work for them, so I expect to get paid something.
But yes, just because you start a blog and do a couple product reviews doesn’t mean anyone has to pay you :) You content has to be well-written. You really have to prove yourself and show your value.
I wrote about this in more detail and my view on this here:
http://dagmarbleasdale.com/2010/11/new-york-times-about-monetizing-motherhood-and-blogging/
Dagmar
Dagmar’s momsense
Thank you Christy. I appreciate your seeing things from a new blogger’s point of view. I agree depending on the level of service we can provide and the experience we come with determines in a large part what fee we can charge for our services. I have often heard that all bloggers should get paid, but I don’t agree that we all are putting out the same quality. For myself, I know I have great potential, there are many services I can do…but for now I know I don’t have those incredible numbers the more well-known bloggers do. I appreciate when companies are willing to take a chance on newer bloggers, the exposure and credibility they bring to my efforts is sometimes worth the ‘un-paid’ internship.
Fantastic post! I loved the part about remembering our readers. Yes them! Isn’t this why we started in the first place.
I love this post Christy! It’s so true. I especially like how you started with service. Personally, I think that (really having the desire to provide a service for your readers – no matter what type of blog you have) is most important. All of us can grow in all of the other areas, but if we’re just doing this for “stuff”/what we can get out of it, then that will put a damper on everything else.
Thank you Christy for expressing this so well. As someone who is a newer blogger you pointed out something I have tried to express. I have to be realistic about what I have to offer. We shouldn’t sell ourselves short, but we also have to be able to deliver if we are being paid. Thanks for the post!
The same goes for providing content for free! I think the sale of Huffington Post has shed light on this “dirty secret” of the internet. Giving free content to larger sites in hopes of a couple of hits to our own sites.
It doesn’t work that way. We are just putting money in the big cat’s pocket.
We can’t talk out of both sides of our mouths – demand to be paid for our time by brands, yet so willingly hand over something of value to others. Brands know there is always someone willing to do it for less/free. We show that every day.